Potential for Tropical Forest Carbon Sequestration - Catchment (NatureServe)

This indicator represents the amount of carbon that could be sequestrated (i.e., prevented from entering the atmosphere as carbon dioxide) if deforestation were halted in tropical forests. Higher values indicate that a greater amount of carbon (measured as CO2 equivalents/km2) per unit area could potentially be sequestrated if deforestation were halted in tropical forests, calculated at the river catchment scale.

Limitations and caveats: Note that the carbon biomass data from which this indicator is derived only covers the tropics; for areas at the tropical boundary the results only apply to the portion of the region, country, or basin occurring inside tropical region.

This indicator provides an estimate of "potential" carbon sequestration when deforestation is completely halted. It is assumed that when deforestation is stopped, the amount of carbon sequestration potential is the same with the same area of existing forest. In reality, the carbon stored in the re-growing forest may be higher or lower, depending on the time frame considered.

For more information please visit the NatureServe Dashboard [http://dashboard.natureserve.org/metadata/potential-carbon-sequestration] or natureserve.org [http://www.natureserve.org/].